In the formation of signatures for bookbinding, or in the making of pamphlets or magazines it is necessary to provide one web or sheet with a glue strip so it can be adhered to another web or sheet and then folded along this strip. Such a machine as described in German Pat. No. 1,115,120 has a glue-applying roll that tangentially engages a moving web to form glue strips on it.
Typically the glue strips must be formed longitudinally of the web when same is moving at any significant speed, as the machine cannot form anything resembling a neat strip when working at high speed (see the report "Rationalisierung by der Fertigstellung von Druckprodukten", 3/82 of Industrie Verlag). Longitudinal glue strips are not practical for modern binding techniques however.
Any attempt to use such devices in high-speed modern binding systems, where the workpiece travels at 300 m/min to 500 m/min, have been wholly futile. The roll must rotate at such high speed that it spews glue in all directions, and forms a very sloppy glue strip on the web. Furthermore when run at such high speed the likelihood of blockage of the glue passages increases.